Hamilton Endures Tough Thruxton Weekend

Archie Hamilton suffered extreme disappointment during the latest rounds of the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship at Thruxton, the Fortec Motorsport suffering his second non-finish of the season to effectively end his hopes of taking the championship.

The 20 year old's weekend started poorly when a loss of straight-line speed in qualifying meant he could only qualify seventh for the opening race. The race was to be short lived though when at the third corner, contact from behind caused by one of his team-mates caused extensive damage to his car, ending his race instantly.

Hoping for a better run in the second race, the Basingstoke-based racer got up from eighth to fourth with a tremendous start, using all his experience of the high-speed track. However with his engine problems from qualifying returning, Archie was under constant pressure throughout the remainder of the race and despite defending well, was powerless to prevent himself from dropping to sixth at the finish.

Hamilton commented: “It's obviously been a bad weekend in terms of my championship. Being hit from behind and put out of the race or having a power problem are bad news – but both on the same weekend were really bad luck. The power issue was very frustrating. I could get up to a decent speed with a tow but without I was way down. The data showed I was faster than my teammate through the corners but then down by over half a second over the lap. A big mystery. I'm really disappointed that my hopes for the title are gone but I'm having my best season in terms of learning and improving as a driver.”